The most “real” thing about us from the beginning is our embodiedness.
What is real is felt with and through our body.
Though hidden from others, the body possesses an interior that is socially invisible.
It continues to be evident to oneself with vivid intensity.
It’s not about food.
The Bony doll metaphor is not a disguise because there is no way to express it directly.
The affects are overwhelmingly strong, our ordinary language is impoverished, and the anorexic experience being processed was non-verbal to begin with.
I believe that eating disorders, like all other forms of self-destructive behavior, are creative attempts to self-soothe, self-medicate, short-circuit untenable thoughts and feelings, and share a specific, untapped, and unspoken “pain narrative” with significant others.
If mental health professionals focus solely on clients’ “issues with food,” then additional strategies to manage overwhelming emotions are never explored, and prior painful experiences are never reconciled and healed.
